1862 November 19: Forty thousand men have volunteered from Wisconsin!

The following editorial from the Madison, Wisconsin, Journal was reprinted in the November 19, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal.

The Pride and Glory of Wisconsin.

Forty thousandmen have volunteered from Wisconsin ! They are the noblest and best of our people. Wherever a battle has been fought or danger pressed the sharpest, it has never been said of any of our regiments that they flinched, hesitated. Ever true to the dear old flag—ever prompt in duty,—they have proved a wall of fire in battle—a bulwark upon which the waves of treason broke in vain. We are proud of them—the State is proud of them—add for their trials and sufferings they will be justly entitled on the return of peace, to an arch of triumph—the free offering of the people—for their great and noble achievements.

Let us hope their Generals will prove as earnest and patriotic as the men ; and if so, before the trees unfold their next leaflets our absent boy, will have layed [sic] their feet in the Gulf of Mexico—and the works of treason will be in the dust.

Almost every family in the State has relatives or friends in the army. Household ties stretched from nearly every house far down into the sunny South. Mothers with tearful eyes ; sisters with anxious hearts, and sweethearts all wait and watch for every breath of news from the absent. From every hillside and plain—every prairie and opening, there ascends a volume of prayer and supplieation [sic] to Heaven for the safety and comfort of those who have gone on this holy mission ; and children, with tiny hands join in their little voices. Soldiers ! be brave—be true—for never before has patriotism been called upon for such sacrifices. Millions are watching you with undoubting confidence and sincere trust.

When we a turn from the spectacle of Wisconsin’s quota in camp and field—and feel the motive for the sacrifice—and witness the activity of partizanship, which has ignored their right to vote—which has struck at the subsistence of helpless families—and which seeks to use their absence as a means of prostituting the honor and integrity of the State by electing upon to misrepresent its sentiments in the national councils—we cannot but feel profouond disgust at the disparity of human nature—the meanness and littleness of the falsely called democracy. It is a libel on integrity and manhood—on decency and humanity.—Madison Journal.

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This blog presents the stories of the American Civil War as it affected the inhabitants of Northwest Wisconsin, either directly or indirectly. These stories are both local and national, and are presented through newspaper articles, letters, diaries, and photographs. The blog will mirror the war; it will begin small and grow as the months march on. Here are the stories of the men and women, the soldiers and civilians who experienced the Civil War, presented on the date they were originally written or appeared in print.